Automatonophobia
by Phoenix on cloud nine
Summary: Everyone must have at least one fear, and that includes our favourite NCIS Special Agent DiNozzo. Oneshot ;P


**I know, I'm _always _mean to Tony, but you all love it ;) Just a small idea (Small idea = Big chapter 0.o) that I thought of a couple of nights ago ^^**

"Happy birthday Abbs!" A happy squeal came from behind one of the shelves and Abby's face appeared as she heard her friend shout to her,

"Tony! Thank you, I... oh, what's this?"

"I come bearing gifts," He grinned at her, showing his white teeth and handing her the small box that had a shiny black bow around it, "I thought you might want something a bit different this year." He told her as she carefully removed the bow. Opening the box she stared in amazement at the bracelet laying on a small velvet cushion. It was on a thin silver chain and had a single gemstone lying in the centre.

"It's called a bloodstone," He told her quietly as she put it on her wrist, "'Cause of the red flecks on it, they look like droplets of blood." She gave him a dazzling grin and leapt on him, hugging him so hard they almost both fell down,

"I love it Tony! It's absolutely gorgeous!" The green stone glistened in the lights of the lab, the red spots shining brightly. Tony grinned back, glad she liked it. He'd gone through nearly every gemstone to find it, not knowing her favourite one, but as soon as he saw the name of it, he knew it would be the right one.

"Ah, Abby?" They both turned to see McGee in the doorway, holding something behind his back. She let Tony go and went over smiling, "I thought I'd get you something different this year." He said happily, missing the look Tony gave him from behind Abby.

"Ooh, what is it? Gimme, gimme, gimme!" She exclaimed, and shrieked happily as she read the small ticket McGee had given her, "Cool! Tickets to Madame Tussauds! And they just got in the new Chamber of Horrors section! Aw McGee, this is great! How many of these have you got?"

"One for each of us," McGee replied, "And I asked Gibbs two months ago if we could have today off to go, and he agreed." Abby screamed and threw her arms around him,

"This is the best Timmy!" She stopped for a moment and saw Tony looking quite pale, and was he shaking? Misinterpreting it, she approached him and gave him a hug, "Don't worry Tony, I still love yours."

"What?" He asked, looking quite dazed, "Oh... yeah, right, er, I've got some work to do, so..." He tailed off and went out, McGee and Abby hearing the small 'ding' of the elevator as he went.

"Was it me?" McGee asked, looking confused, "I've never really had Tony pegged as the jealous type." Abby shrugged,

"I did tell him I liked his present as well..." Looking lost for a moment, she said, "Oh well, he'll warm up eventually, this is gonna be great!"

--

"Grab your gear." Gibbs said when he made his way into the bullpen, carrying his customary cup of coffee. Tony looked up, grinning,

"We got a case Boss?"

"Nope," Was all he got in reply, and he guessed they were all going out for Abby's birthday. He shuddered and asked, "Er, Boss, about going to Madame Tussauds, I think I'm going to have to give it a miss, I've got loads of paperwork to catch up on, and um..." Gibbs raised an eyebrow. When had DiNozzo ever willingly stayed behind to do paperwork, when they were going on a day out? McGee, who was coming back up, Abby in tow, said,

"Is everyone ready?" He got nods, apart from Tony, who looked up at Abby and said shakily,

"Er, Abbs, I've got a lot of paperwork, I don't think I'm gonna be able to come." She looked heartbroken, and immediately turned to Gibbs in anger,

"Gibbs! You've known about this for months! Why didn't you make sure that everyone could come?"

"Happy Birthday Abbs," Was what she got in reply, before, "I looked through all of their paperwork this morning, they've all finished." Abby glared over at Tony, who gulped. He didn't like lying to his friends, but he couldn't go with them, he just _couldn't_. Before he had time to say anything, Ziva came in, and handed Abby some black roses,

"I thought it was some kind of tradition so I got some more for this year," She said, kissing Abby on the cheek, "Happy birthday." Abby smiled, but soon turned back to Tony,

"C'monTony, I don't see why you don't want to go! Is it me?" Tony felt horrible, and shook his head. He opened his mouth only to shut it again when he found he had no words. He looked up and saw everyone looking at him. He sighed and said,

"Forget it Abbs, of course I want to come. Hey, did'ya show Ziva what I got you?" She smiled at him, but still had a rather puzzled expression on her face as she turned to the mossad officer. Gibbs studied the young man's face, hoping to see something in it that was causing the... oddness, for lack of a better word. All he saw was Tony wringing his hands slightly and flicking his eyes about nervously.

--

Sat in the car, everyone noticed how quiet Tony was being. It was impossible not to. Even in an extremely serious situation he'd still blabber on, but now, he was merely sat there, staring out the window.

"Tony, are you ok? You're not in a mood with me are you?" Abby asked, sounding heartbroken. He looked up at her and his mouth twitched into a smile, but there was sweat on his upper lip and he looked green in the right light,

"Abbs I'm fine, I just... didn't get much sleep last night." She frowned, looking upset, and then moved slightly so he had more room,

"Sleep now, it'll take us about half an hour to get there." He grimaced at her and closed his eyes, indeed feeling absolutely shattered. How on earth would he explain what would undoubtedly happen when they got there? He was Special Agent DiNozzo, he wasn't scared of anything - terrorists, bombs, fire fights, serial killers, he was fine with anything, so there would be no way he'd tell anyone that he would probably faint as soon as they were in there. He'd be laughed at, Ziva would never let him forget it he knew, and as for Gibbs... he didn't even want to think about what Gibbs would say.

Soon however, he found himself slipping into sleep and allowed himself to, not wanting to continue worrying about it. Abby smiled softly as she felt Tony's head fall against her shoulder,

"Has DiNozzo fallen asleep?" Gibbs asked, not being able to see from where he was driving and only heard Abby telling him to go to sleep,

"Yeah," Abby answered. There was a moment of silence before she cooed, "He looks so cute when he's sleeping." Gibbs snorted but said nothing.

--

"Hey Tony... Wake up. Come on baby..." Ziva laughed at how Abby was treating Tony as he slowly woke up, mumbling something, "We're here Tony." He stretched and the, seeing the sign outside of the museum he froze, he brain ticking slowly as he remembered what they were doing. Seeing that everyone was waiting for him and Abby, he slowly got out the car, shaking and feeling as his hands became clammy.

"Tony, are you sure you're ok? You're not ill are you?" He glanced quickly at where Gibbs, Ziva and McGee were stood and muttered, so quietly that Abby had to strain to here him,

"I don't _like _wax models." She looked puzzled for a moment before asking,

"You mean you get bored?" He bit his lip, lie or tell her and face the possible embarrassment of everyone knowing. He gave a small, nervous titter and said,

"Yeah, sorry, I'll keep my thoughts to myself." She rolled her eyes at him and they went over to where everyone else was stood,

"I see your little dog-nap did nothing to help your mood." Ziva said, noting how twitchy Tony looked,

"The term is _cat-nap, _Zee-Vah, and keep your opinions to yourself." He shot back harshly, causing her to blink at him and shake her head. She couldn't be bothered when she knew she would indefinitely win the argument. Gibbs raised his eyebrows at the behaviour of his team but said nothing as soon Abby coaxed Tony into a conversation and McGee was chatting to Ziva. Soon he saw the tell-tale signs of both Tony and Abby's attention wandering so he said,

"Abbs, you got the tickets?" She grinned and pulled Tony forward by the arm, who yelped and pulled away, falling into McGee who yelled, 'Hey!' and got in a shouting match with him. Honest to God, sometimes Gibbs felt like he worked with three year olds.

"Hey Boss?" He turned to see Abby looking worriedly over at Tony who was at this point throwing up in the bushes outside the museum,

"Tony, you ok?" He asked, having gotten over there and had his hand on the younger man's shoulder. He nodded and spat into the bush, but his face had taken on the colour of someone on Ducky's slab, and he wiped his mouth with a shaking hand.

"As soon as we get back I'm taking you to see Ducky." He said, before Abby bounced over and asked,

"Are you ok Tony?" He nodded again, looking washed out but looked up to the museum with big eyes,

"We going in or what?" He asked, managing to keep his voice steady. Abby looked over to Gibbs, who shrugged and, after quickly patting Tony on the back, went over to the entrance.

**--Tony's P.O.V--**

It's like stepping into a nightmare. I really can't do this. It's like a really horrific memory you've kept away fro so long you can't even remember it properly, it's only in your dreams it starts to come alive again, you can remember it as clear as you could a day after it happened. I've _always _been scared of models,

_(Though i can't have been, 'cause I'm Tony DiNozzo, nothing scares me, specially not some dumb peices of wax that clearly can't hurt you.)_

ever since I was small. When my mum once took up needlework and she started to make her own clothes, she needed a model for that, and even then, when it didn't have a face I still got really freaked out by it. It got even worse when me and some pals from school decided to go to the haunted house at the local carnival. Who'd have thought that the last thing I remember from that is turning a corner and bumping into a model in the shape of a vampire? Then I'm suddenly sat in an office with a cup of water in my hands and being asked if I have a heart condition.

Maybe I do. Maybe I don't really have some stupid phobia, maybe I'm actually ill. I'd rather have that excuse than, 'Oh, sorry, but I can't go in there, I'm frightened.' But everyone's looking as I'm way behind them, dawdling by the glass door that goes into a room that looks like an A-list party. I'd usually be straight in if I saw anyone who looked like a movie star, but it's _them_. Those things that pretend to be something they're not. Those things that stare through you, with grins that never slide off, they don't have any other emotions. Maybe I'm jealous of them? They're not scared of me, and I'm the one who can do something to them... but even then I couldn't, not when I'd have to at least a mile away before my hand would stop shaking enough to throw some lighter fluid and a match at them.

**--Normal P.O.V--**

The room was immense. It was set out to look like a party, which Gibbs wasn't comfortable with, as everyone looked to be dressed smartly and sucking up to others. Everyone else was having a whale of a time, slinging their arms around the stars and having their pictures taken, and at one point insisting on taking a group photo. Gibbs was fascinated by how Tony was acting. He'd stayed at the very edges of the room, and once or twice Gibbs was positive the young man was going to pass out. He'd tried to stay at the edge of them all when they all stood in a group around Barack Obama, but Abby had pulled him close to her, holding his hand as a passing tourist snapped the picture.

As soon as the flash went Tony zoomed towards the doors of the next attraction, breathing heavily and pushing sweaty palms through his hair. Why couldn't he just get over it? he'd heard of implosion therapy, when you were stuck in a room full of whatever you were scared of. You were either cured of your phobia... or you had a heart attack. _Seeing as how I'm not cured yet_, Tony thought, _I'm clearly going to have a heart attack_. It did seem like it, his heart racing in a way that couldn't be normal.

"Yo! Tony!" Tony looked up, wiping his mouth to stop himself throwing up again, to see Gibbs staring at him. Forcing a smile, he answered,

"Hey Boss, enjoying the wax works?" Gibbs gave him a look that made him know his Boss knew he was hiding something. Before he had a chance to reply, Abby shouted from where she was,

"Hey guys, we're finally gonna go into the chamber of horrors!" Tony quickly ducked from where he was, kind of trapped between the wall and Gibbs and went to go over. Except she was on the other side of the room. And first, he had to walk through all the models. What he really needed was some kind of physical contact right now. He knew if he asked, Abby would come back to him and excitedly squeeze his hand, but what would everyone think if he shouted over, 'Hey Abbs, come back and hold my hand!'?

So he had to run through, getting over to Abby before Gibbs could even turn around. Thankfully, the boss must have put it down to too much sugar, and he too came over, albeit a lot slower than Tony had.

"Do I have to put a leash on you, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, making the young agent look down and mutter a small apology, which surprised him. Tony wouldn't back down like that. Usually it would be a 'Sorry Boss.' and a grin, before going ahead and doing it again. They wandered down a dark corridor and into a room that had models of people being tortured or murderers or something on small platforms with spotlights on them. Tony was already incredibly jittery, and the darkness and eerie quiet did nothing to calm him. They had to wander through while reading the small plaques below the models, which meant getting up close and personal with them. Stuck at the back of everyone, Tony was forced to stop when everyone else did, so he almost always had a model stood behind him, or next to him.

_Screw it_, he thought when they got going again, _I don't care how weird it sounds_,

"Hey Abbs? You wanna walk with me?" She couldn't hear him, as a tour had just officially started, and the lights flickered on and off and sounds of screaming were being piped in. The doors slammed shut and their tour guide, a man dressed to look Victorian, started speaking, urging them forward and then stopping by each model.

One of them was clearly an audio-animatronic, and started to move when the tour guide surreptitiously pressed a small button. Unfortunately, Tony was stood right next to it, and jumped, almost screaming but managing to keep his mouth closed. However, he grabbed hold of whoever was in front, clutching at their wrist like a four year old. That someone in front turned out to be Gibbs, who turned to see who had just gotten hold of him,

"DiNozzo, what's wrong with you?" He whispered, careful not to draw attention to them. Tony couldn't breathe, and his vision was swimming, making him feel dizzy. It looked as though they were all around him, and he croaked out,

"I need to get out of here."

"Tony?" Gibbs asked, still quiet, but a note of panic in his voice. He turned and gripped both of Tony's wrists, and felt them shaking, "What is it? What's wrong?" Tony was now hyperventilating, and suddenly, his vision blurred entirely, and he blacked out.

**--Tony's P.O.V--**

Y'know that feeling you get, when you get out of a hot bath too quickly? Well... me neither, but I kinda get what's meant by it. But just now, it feels like I'm not in control of my body, like there's someone else moving me, telling me what to say. I can see myself saying something to Gibbs, and then... panic. Complete and utter panic. Then I'm falling, too fast, like out of a plane.

I think I'm dimly registering someone saying, 'Get the goddamn lights on!', so I guess Gibbs is still in there. It's almost like I'm hovering over myself, watching the scene unfold, like a movie. I think Abby's nearly having a panic attack herself, and... woah, what was that? It felt like someone just ran their hands through my hair, and... are they _stroking_ it now?

This is too odd, I need to wake up. But I can't, for some reason I'm not letting myself. Maybe it's like, my sub-conscious forbidding me to wake until the danger's gone?

I can't feel or hear anything now. What if I'm dying? I've almost died a couple of times before though, and it's no picnic, I'd have liked to not have been able to feel then. Wait, no, there's something coming back, like those cheesy movies that say right at the end, 'Go in to the light!'. It's almost as if I'm running to the end of a tunnel, or maybe it's just the spots dancing in front of my eyes. There's definitely someone sat in front of me, waiting for me to wake up.

**--Normal P.O.V--**

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as Tony slowly blinked and sniffed slightly, registering where he was. Abby almost burst into tears and swooped down, hugging him on the moth eaten sofa that was in the manager's office. Tony's senses were on high alert and he tried to jump up, but sensing no danger relaxed, and was also pushed slowly back down by,

"I wouldn't do that yet Anthony my boy, we should wait for a few minutes."

"Ducky?" He asked, his voice slurring a tiny bit,

"Well, at least you can register things, and speak, so I'm not too worried." Tony squinted slightly, thinking,

"You weren't with us were you?" He chuckled and answered,

"No dear boy, Jethro phoned me, he wouldn't have you examined by a tourist who said they were a doctor." Tony nodded, but had a look in his eyes that made him seem as though he wasn't all there yet.

"So what happened Tony?" Gibbs asked, finally talking from where he'd been sat quietly for the last twenty minutes, "You ill?" Tony shook his head, before lying back down weakly, realizing that was a bad idea. The dizziness struck him instantly, and he said,

"Well, maybe, I don't remember being this concussed before I fell over." Abby gave him a wry smile, as Gibbs frowned at him and said,

"You didn't 'fall down' DiNozzo, you fainted - and don't give me that crap about DiNozzo's don't faint 'cause I've heard it all before." Tony closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and seeing the room very clearly for the first time.

Everyone in here was worried. Even Ziva and McGeek. It wouldn't be fair to let them worry about him for, possibly weeks, always giving him small side glances to check he wasn't having a relapse. It would be better if they knew, his gut was telling him, then they might not have to deal with this again,

"I just... I have this... condition," _There_, he thought triumphantly, _if I give them the scientific crap my mum foisted on me when I was small, they might not make fun_, "It's, automatonophobia," He pronounced it delicately, and thought for a moment before shaking his head slightly and whispering, "I can't remember what it does."

"Well, you hit your head when you fainted," Ducky said to him, before straightening and looking round the room, "Automatonophobia," He started, sounding like a walking psychology text book, "Is the fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues - anything that falsely represents a sentient being. Sufferers usually have panic attacks when confronted with these things. It may seem like an over-reaction, compared to some people, but in actuality, more people just feel nervous around these, whereas true sufferers have it much worse. And I don't think our Anthony is one for putting it on for sympathy."

They all looked around at each other, and Abby quietly asked,

"Is it my fault Tony? Why didn't you say? I'd never have made you come with us." Tony opened his eyes and replied,

"I did say. Remember, by the car? I said I didn't like wax models." Abby's eyes went huge and she whined,

"But you agreed when I asked if it just made you bored!"

"Abbs, how embarrassed would you be?" He asked, "If all your team mates knew you couldn't even go into a clothes shop without feeling nauseous?" Abby bit her lip, but was saved from having to say anything by Gibbs saying to him,

"Tony, everyone's got their own fears. We wouldn't think any less of you if you have a phobia. It's out of your control. You've got nothing to be ashamed of. Listen, we're going to get you back to NCIS, and have Ducky check you out properly, it's impossible in this office," He remarked, looking about in disdain, "Is he alright to sleep Duck?" Gibbs asked, looking over at the ME,

"Oh yes, we'll just wake him up when we get back." Gibbs nodded and looked round to his team,

"McGee, get the car started, Ziva, Abbs, you go with him, I'll ride with Tony in Ducky's van." They all nodded and trooped out, Abby firstly giving Tony a huge hug to say sorry. Tony felt his eyelids shutting. He'd been running on nervous energy from the moment he'd heard they were going to a waxwork museum, and had nothing left at all,

"Sorry I... cut our trip short Boss..." He mumbled,

"I'm sorry I didn't catch you in time Son." Gibbs whispered back, running his fingers through the kid's hair until he'd fallen into a deep sleep.

**I don't think this was that good to be honest, it was like typing through treacle :( And I don't even know if there _is _a Madame Tussauds in D.C, or the layout of it, as I react exactly the same to how Tony does :P Review? xxx**


End file.
